The Bubbly Bar and The Cocktail Primer The Bubbly Bar | By Maria Hunt | (Clarkson Potter, $16.99 hardcover) | The Cocktail Primer | By Eben Klemm | (Andrews McMeel, $19.99 hardcover)
Posted by Kim Davaz • 01/27/10 • 5:08pm
Pair of authors mix it up for home bartenders
By Kim Davaz
There is something innately festive about drinking sparkling wine. Maybe it’s the special glasses or those marvelous bubbles, but just looking at the bottle says special occasion. That occasion might be a graduation, a marriage proposal or wedding, the birth of a child or an I’m-so-glad-you’re-here moment, but sparkling wine also is nice on ordinary days.
In “The Bubbly Bar: Champagne and Sparkling Wine Cocktails for Every Occasion,” Maria Hunt explains that true Champagne can come only from the Champagne region of France. Everything else is sparkling wine. All should be opened carefully (instructions included in the “Cocktails 101” chapter) and served well-chilled in a flute glass.
When you’re making mixed drinks from sparkling wine, use a more ordinary but still delicious wine. Hunt recommends using one in the $16 range. This is no place for the Champagnes that are kept under lock and key at the store that you’d buy to celebrate a momentous occasion.
“The Bubbly Bar” ends with a tour of sparkling wines of the world, with a list of wines by price, from less than $10 to the $40 to $50 plus range. If you’re celebrating something truly momentous, she lists exceptional wines from about $85 to $700.
The Stiletto is from the “Bubbletinis” chapter. Use a reasonably good dry sparkling wine here.
When it comes to mixed drinks, Eben Klemm, master mixologist and director of cocktail development for B.R. Guest Restaurants in New York City, takes the subject very seriously. He is downright picky about exactly how these things should be done in “The Cocktail Primer.”
In the introduction, he specifies how to hold the jigger over the glass when measuring so any extra spills happily into the drink: “Grasp (the jigger) at its narrowest point, between two fingers, palm up, so that the slightest rotation of your fingers will pour the measure.”
Of course, there is the question of shaken or stirred. Each has its own merits, depending on the desired result, but the methods can never be substituted. Even James Bond knew that.
And on the subject of shaking, one must shake in a way that is intense but not exhausting, using more wrist than arm movement. I told you he is very passionate on the subject. And we haven’t even gotten to taste anything yet.
The book starts with an explanation of terms and rules, with how to stock a bar with ingredients and equipment. He even gives a recipe for cocktail cherries marinated in three kinds of alcohol plus grenadine.
“The Cocktail Primer” divides drinks into six chapters, by style and technique, beginning with “Martini’s Children.”
He goes on to Manhattans and beyond, simple then complex sours, muddled drinks and finally highballs. This isn’t meant to be the ultimate drink encyclopedia, but instead a good basic place to start.
The Negroni in “Martini’s Children” is the drink, Klemm says, that made him want to become a bartender. I don’t know if this will make you want to change career paths, or simply want to make another drink.
The Stiletto
- 1/2 ounce Grand Marnier
- 1/2 to 1 ounce cognac
- 4 ounces brut Champagne or sparkling wine
- 3 drops Angostura bitters
- Spiral of orange zest, for garnish
Pour the Grand Marnier and cognac into a Champagne flute. Top with the Champagne or sparkling wine. Add the bitters. Garnish with the zest.
Negroni
- 2 ounces gin
- 1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
- 1/2 ounce Campari
- Burnt orange peel, for garnish
Pour the gin, vermouth and Campari into a cocktail shaker. Fill the shaker with ice and stir with a bar spoon until the outside is cold. Strain and serve, garnished with burnt orange peel.
Burnt Orange Peel: Cut a thumb-size slice of fresh orange peel, retaining as much of the white pith as possible. Strike a match and hold it in one hand. Hold the shorter end of the orange peel between the thumb and forefinger of the other hand and gently brush the flame against the orange peel. Hold the still-lit match (or another one, if the first one is about to singe you) about 2 inches above the filled cocktail glass and hold a peel a similar distance over the match. Pinch the peel, releasing the oils. If you’ve done this correctly, the spray will ignite in a rather satisfying burst. Sometimes there is even a nifty little whoosh.
Kim Davaz writes a biweekly cookbook review column for The Register-Guard.
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